Coffee Just Got A Lot More Expensive

Prices for coffee packages like Folgers and Dunkin’ Donuts will be increasing by 9 percent, according to an announcement by its manufacturer the J.M. Smucker Company. In other words, a 1-pound bag of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee priced at $8.99 would increase by 81 cents. The company decided to raise prices on its packaged products to offset the rising costs of green coffee.

But it’s not just the aforementioned coffee that’s getting more expensive; it’s the coffee commodity itself. Coffee stock futures have shot up 60 percent because of a smaller-than-expected coffee crop in Brazil, which is the largest producer of coffee beans.

But is this price increase really necessary, or are we being gouged because we’re addicted to coffee? Prices of the commodity, after surging from under a dollar a pound to more than two dollars a pound, are coming back down now.

While the move to increase the prices of coffee may be more of a business strategy than an actual demand and supply, it’s pretty safe to say that true consumers won’t let price surges come between them and their coffee.